This customer wanted a little bit of flare without going overboard. I did a full Speedhut gauge setup with flip-flop color scheme. He needed to squeeze two other gauges somewhere so I closed off the small vents and lower switch areas on the cluster shroud. Then flushed in a 2-1/16″ Speedhut gauge on each side.
This seems to be the most popular piece that I duplicate:
Recently finished up a gauge panel for my good friend Damon Young. As most of you will know, he use to own the black S13 hatch that was on the cover of Modified Magazine along with mine. However, he has moved on from that and into an EVO VIII. He needed a killer place to install his (3) 52mm Defi gauges and I hooked him up with a nice solution. I typically like to make my custom interior pieces appear to be something the OEM manufacturer would have made… but weren’t cool enough to do so. When they see it, I want people who know nothing about cars to think it came from the manufacturer that way. I want it to look so integrated that it doesn’t look like I did much… even though I spent hours and hours modifying and fabricating it. Well, Damon’s gauge panel demonstrates this philosophy.
For this write-up, I also decided to strictly use my iPhone 5 to take the progress pics. It’s WAY easier than getting out my Canon 50D, setting it up, getting it dirty etc. It worked out great and I will continue to do this for all of my progress pics on future projects… except for my S13 project of course. It receives the full treatment at all times 🙂
Damon sent me his radio/HVAC trim piece to retrofit the gauges into. The radio is getting relocated which gave me a nice spot to mount the gauges. Here is the original piece that he sent me:
The first thing I did was increase the size of the rectangular opening. The three gauges actually sit in the OEM opening fine, but they do not flush into the opening. When possible, I like to flush gauges into the panel I’m modifying. I think it gives an overall finished look and also keeps with the OEM theme. Sure it takes a lot longer to do it, but the results are always worth the hassle in my opinion. So I enlarged the opening on the top and bottom. Next I bonded in a piece of 1/4″ ABS with some Norton Speed Grip 5 minute. As usual, I roughed up all the edges to be bonded with some 80 grit or harsher sand paper prior to bonding. I made sure the ABS had a large enough footprint to squeeze the gauges in while not cutting into any of the surrounding OEM plastic. As you will notice, I had to work within the confinements of the recessed area in the OEM panel. It would have been easier to simply fill in the entire recessed area and then flush the gauges into that, but again, it will look MUCH more OEM if I keep the recessed area intact. Here is a shot of the ABS bonded into place:
Next I sanded all the joints, ABS and the surrounding OEM plastic in the recessed area to give a nice smooth/seamless transition from the original plastic to the new plastic. This is going to receive a smooth finish for the final paint, so it needs to be perfect:
Using a digital caliper, I carefully centered the gauges in the proper spots:
I then used a hole saw to get the hole sized as close as possible. Since there isn’t a hole saw that is exactly the same diameter as the outside diameter of the Defi gauge, then I had to make it small and then enlarge it with a 50 grit sanding drum on an air grinder. I then sanded the hole by hand with 80 grit:
Test fitting the gauges… I didn’t realize the following pic was blurry when I saved it, so sorry about that. It’s unacceptable to me, but it’s the only pic I have where I show them test fit straight on:
Showing off the flushness… Zilvia would be proud. Well, except for the lack of stretched gauge bezels:
I scuffed the entire trim piece down with a red 3M scuff pad. I then sprayed a heavy coat of Dupli-Color Cast Iron Engine Block enamel over the entire piece. I have found in the past that this paint color, Cast Iron, is a very close match to several OEM interior trim panels:
After that dried I wet sand it with 500 grit. I then sprayed a heavy coat again and did the process a few times to get it perfect without any defects, dust etc:
Damon is a very smart man and supplied me with brand new HVAC stickers to apply to the finished piece… and here it is with the gauges mounted in and stickers applied:
Finally had a customer request molding something into the radio trim bezel of a S13. The customer wanted the four AEM 52mm gauges flush mounted in the double din area where the radio/pocket normally reside. However, the gauges will not really fit in that opening… especially flushing them in. So I enlarged the area and bonded a 3/4″ piece of MDF into the opening. I went ahead and marked/routed out the gauge locations prior to bonding. At this time I also cut the opening to flush in the Greddy turbo timer. Once the MDF plate was bonded/cured, I took a couple different sanders and sanded down the MDF plate to match the contour of the S13 trim panel. At first glance it simply looks flat across the entire thing… but it’s not. And since the bottom gauges extend down so far, it gets into to the curved area right before where the shifter opening is.
All bonded and shaped:
Next I used a thin coat of body filler to fill in any imperfections. Sanded that all down then hit the panel with several coats of high build primer. Once that fully cured I wet sanded it with 500 grit:
Several coats of SEM Landau black and we have a finished product. Note: I also coat the back with several coats to prevent the MDF from absorbing any moisture at all.
I decided to have this on a Saturday this year. Hopefully this will help anyone traveling a decent distance to not have to worry about getting back for work the next day. Or even allow them to get a hotel Saturday night.
When: Saturday October 6th
Time: 10am – whenever
Where: My house… 1101 Canyon Creek Rd. Normal, IL 61761
Why: To give back to the Nissan community. Please show up in a Nissan, Datsun or Infiniti. I’m not handing out free food to someone who rolls up in a Subaru.
Please post in the comments section if you are coming so I can get a head count. Include number of guests if applicable. Also post up what kind of grill meat you prefer… brats, dogs or burgers. NOTE: If you post in the comments that you are attending but then change your mind, please post again that you are not or edit your original comment.
It’s that time of year again! It will be held on Sunday October 16th this time around. Please post on Zilvia if you are coming. If you do not have an account, simply sign up for one just so you can post. Event info and sign-up can be found here:
I will be holding my second annual cookout for all you local and non-local Nissan lovers. I will be hosting it on Sunday September 12th starting @ 10am. We will grill and hang out for awhile, then do some nice cruising on our local streets and interstates… maybe an individual photo shoot or two if you can talk Kyle into it. I will supply all forms of food and drinks. Makes it easier for those traveling……. no need for coolers etc. All I ask is a simple donation for the cause into the tip jar. My local friends and I are accustom to mature outings, so lets not deter from that. Plenty of fun can be had without being stupid.
Please reply on this thread if you can make it and I will update the list periodically:
2010 Broadfield Nissan Cookout
State how many people you will have with you, if any. Also what kind of grill meat and beverage you and your guest(s) prefer.
All models of Nissan/Datsun welcome!
A good client of mine called me this week to talk about a system for his Ferrari. Well actually, the owner didn’t call, his right-hand man did. I have never actually talked to this client, even though I have worked on three of his vehicles and am getting ready to do his 2010 F-150. The F-150 will be for his PR/marketing people. They want to be able to pull up to a college campus and rock out while they hand out product. One of the three jobs was his limo. I did a lot of fiberglass work and plenty of audio/video of course. He was very satisfied with my work and I have now gained his trust for the important jobs. So back to the Ferrari…. after all it is the reason I’m typing right now. The only issue I have is I’m not even sure which of his Ferrari’s I’m doing. Probably the F430 Scuderia…. but maybe his new 599 or 458. He hasn’t actually decided which vehicle he wants the system in. Maybe all three if he likes the first job. So I sent him over a generic system quote for “a” Ferrari. Pretty much top of the line stuff….. one set of components, two 8″ subs in a custom fiberglass enclosure, a multi-channel amplifier and a CD Player. Very basic setup, but with a price tag of around $6000 installed. This thing could be one of the best sounding vehicles I have done in my 17 year career. I’ll be sure to keep folks updated and with pretty pictures to-boot.
Part 2: HUD
As stated in part 1, Defi doesn’t make a speedometer. So I ordered up the new Defi-Link VSD X HUD. This unit displays an image on a piece of plexi that is angled off the backside. It is simply meant to be mounted on top of your dash. My intention was to ditch the plexi and display it on the windshield. I bought a piece of film from the old original Defi HUD VSD setup. The old Defi HUD setup was basically the same as the new one, only it displayed on the windshield. This was going to be perfect because I had sourced an OEM S13 HUD pod for the top of the dash. My plan was to retrofit the Defi unit into the OEM pod. Well, come to find out, there was no way I could get the angle correct to display on the windshield. So I quickly came up with the idea to mold it into the top of the steering wheel shroud. I felt it would be perfect for a couple of reasons: 1) The plexi is obviously clear, so I would still be able to see the main gauges in the cluster through it. 2) The top of the shroud has a natural notch in it where it comes up to the cluster. So I would be able to simply extend the backside up to make room for the HUD module….. all the while keeping the overall OEM shape of the shroud.
I don’t really have any pictures of the process. Since I do this type of stuff for a living, I usually just rock through it as fast as I can and don’t bother with pictures. Although I am trying to get better about taking pictures of all of my custom work. So I will try to briefly describe how I did it. I wanted to keep the profile as low as possible, so I ditched the bottom plastic casing of the unit. Here is a picture of the unit in it’s stock form for reference,
I then hacked a rectangular hole in the top of the shroud where I wanted the unit. I took the guts out of the top half of the plastic casing, including the thin plastic film that the image shines through on the top. The piece of plexi was simply bolted to the back of the casing. I then super glued the top plastic casing onto the top of the shroud exactly where I wanted it. I roughed up all of the surrounding plastic(the shroud and plastic casing) with some 36 grit sandpaper. This would allow the bondo to adhere better. I then simply slapped a bunch of kitty hair(bondo with fiber glass strands) onto the sides and front to build up the shape I wanted leading up to the plastic casing. I basically faded the front edge of the shroud all the way to the front edge of the plastic casing. Then filled in the sides and sanded it to have a natural curvature and OEM look to it. Next up is a texture coat. I love a product called SEM Texture Coating. I use it on projects at work all of the time. Depending how far away you spray the project, it will yield different textures…. big, small etc. After that it’s time for a final finish coat. I chose SEM Landau Black. It is a very OEM’ish black. Not too glossy and not too flat. Simply reassembling the guts and reattaching the plexi to the back was all that was left. As you can see I chose to do without the black rubber edging on the plexi. I realize this writeup is very vague, but custom work is hard to put into words. Some finished pics from different angles,
Stay tuned for part 3: The center vent gauges and the digital fuel gauge in the center console area.
Preview of the end result,
Part 1: Gauge Cluster
This project was a fairly quick one I did back in the middle of 2007. I simply wanted something cooler than the OEM 240sx gauge cluster. I had no idea at the time that it would garner so much attention from not only 240 owners, but I have also seen it posted on many other automobile forums. So I am greatly humbled that others appreciate my hard work. With all of the customization I do, whether it’s for my car or for my job, I like the OEM’ish look. I want someone who knows nothing about cars to think nothing was done in my interior…. or maybe think that it’s an upgraded OEM option. So onto the cluster. First off the gauges: I chose the brand Defi because, well, they are Defi! They are of the utmost quality, they are the exact look I like, I have used them in previous cars, I like how the gauges are all linked together to a central control unit and I really like the brushed aluminum trim ring they use. Another plus was that they came in various sizes: 52mm, 60mm, 80mm and 115mm. Of course there are only a couple different ones that come in the two larger sizes….. so I was limited to what I got to choose for my two larger gauges. I went with the black face because of my tradition of holding to the OEM’ish look….. especially since they had green illumination. Blue illumination or white face gauges would of just looked out of place. The only downfall to this entire gauge cluster idea is that Defi does not make a speedometer. And since this car is daily driven in everything but snow and salt, I needed a speedometer. I could of crammed a digital one in with only a small rectangular window to display the speed, but then it would of looked crammed in there. I wanted a nice simple but not overly bare cluster. So I got a hair-brain idea to use the Defi HUD and retrofit it into the OEM HUD housing. I was able to find the OEM HUD housing for next to nothing… cool! So I ordered everything up only to find out that the Defi HUD that displays on the windshield had been discontinued….not cool! However, there was a new one that displayed onto its own back plate made of simple plexi-glass. Sweet, I’ll take it and simply buy the old HUD film and display it on the windshield like I originally planned. Well, not so fast…… more on this in part 2
Building the cluster was pretty straight forward. I simply hacked up an old cluster to begin with. I wanted to maintain the OEM mounts, black interior surround and the OEM clear plastic front. The only part of the OEM cluster that had to be cut to perfection was the black surround, as this was going to be butt up against the back plate. So in order for it to look as good as OEM , it had to be perfect. Once that was cut, I made a back plate out of 1/4″ hardboard. I cut the holes for the gauges and turn signals. The gauges were to be flushed in to give a smoother look…. so those holes also had to be perfect. To be perfectly honest with you, I HAD to flush them in. The two big 80mm gauges would of hit the clear plastic OEM face had I not flushed them in. So sometimes things just work out for the better even when you don’t plan on it. For the turn signals I took the OEM arrow and mounted it underneath a piece of PVC to form the housing, I then hacked out the white plastic area that the OEM bulbs twist into. I glued these onto the back of the PVC and I instantly had turn signal housings where the bulb could be easily replaced.
The white housing back of the cluster just had to be hacked up good enough to clear for the back of the new gauges. It didn’t need to be pretty.
The new plate that the gauges are mounted in needed to be finished in an OEM look. So I used two of my favorite products. I used SEM Texture Coat to get the texture I wanted. Depending on how far away you spray it, you can get varied results with the amount of texture. For the finishing coat, I used SEM Landau Black.
All that’s left is to glue the plate in, snap the back white housing on and attach the OEM clear front plastic. Part 2: HUD, coming soon!
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